


The Homesick Remedy

by autumnyte



Series: Boss Alair Cabrera [5]
Category: Saints Row
Genre: Canon LGBTQ Character, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-16
Updated: 2014-03-16
Packaged: 2018-01-15 23:20:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1323016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumnyte/pseuds/autumnyte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's something in particular the Boss misses about Earth. As always, Pierce has a plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Homesick Remedy

**Author's Note:**

> Mild spoilers for Saints Row IV.
> 
> This Boss: [Alair Cabrera](http://pierceaholic.tumblr.com/tagged/boss+alair+cabrera).

Pierce was about to drift off to sleep--his eyes shut and his back curled against the warmth of Alair's chest--when he heard the question.

"Know what I miss?" Alair muttered, tracing his fingertips along the contours of Pierce's bicep. "The rain. The sound. The smell. Just... standing outside in it... feeling it. I can't even remember how long it's been." He brushed his lips against Pierce's bare shoulder and his voice dropped to a whisper. "What if--fuck. What if other planets don't have rain? What if it never rains again?"

A wisp of concern drifted through Pierce's hazy thoughts. He was used to Alair's insomnia-fueled ramblings after sex, but the melancholy was new. Pierce moved his lips to reply, but exhaustion and post-orgasmic lethargy won out. He was asleep before he could form the words.

The next morning, Pierce woke up alone for the first time in over two weeks. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, glancing around the Boss's small sleeping quarters-- _their_ quarters, now. No sign of a note.

Had Alair slept at all?

After getting washed up and dressed, skipping his morning shave, Pierce went to the upper deck of the ship to investigate.

He found Alair and Johnny in the simulation room, both strapped to pods. Kinzie and Matt were sitting side-by-side at one of the large computer screens nearby.

"Heya, Pierce." Matt turned in his chair and offered a half-wave.

"Morning," Pierce said, his voice still thick from sleep. He gestured to Johnny and Alair. "Something big going down?"

Matt shook his head. "They've been doing Genkibowl for hours. According to Johnny, they both had a rather urgent need to 'blow shit up'. The amount of points they've racked up thus far is legendary."  
  
Kinzie spoke without looking up from her computer. "Boss wanted us to tell you to go join them, only if you're interested."  
  
Pierce gazed back at Alair and Johnny, but he didn't truly consider it. "Nah, I'm cool." Deranged, gun-toting mascots gave him the creeps, especially the ones that looked like Paul. "Hey… did you notice the Boss acting strange when you saw him this morning?"

"Stranger than usual? No." Matt lowered his voice. "Though we were a bit surprised to see him awake so early. After the, um… lengthy chorus of sounds we were subjected to last night."

"Seriously," Kinzie said. "Do you guys have to be so loud? Some of us actually want to sleep around here."

"I can't help it that we're stuck on a tiny ship." Pierce shrugged, unable to suppress a smirk as he remembered Alair writhing against the bed, shouting his name amidst a stream of Spanish obscenities.

"I have a couple ball gags that could help with that," Kinzie offered.

"Damn, girl. Where the hell'd you get--no, you know what? I don't even want to know."

"I'm very resourceful," Kinzie answered anyway, stopped typing, and swiveled in her chair to face him. "What's with the questions about the Boss? You sound worried about something."

"Pshht. Nah, I'm not _worried_." Okay, he was a little worried. But he wasn't about to let anyone else hear that. "Just seems like shit's starting to get to him more, the closer we get to taking down Zinyak."

Kinzie nodded. "I noticed that, too. Fortunately, I don't think it'll be too much longer before we're ready. We've created some significant disruptions and instability in the simulation. More importantly, we've got increasing control."

Pierce raised an eyebrow. "Wait… you said control. Could you alter the weather? Would there be some kind of way to make it rain?"

Matt and Kinzie looked at each other, the wheels in their minds clearly turning.

"Probably. Provided we have enough clusters to repurpose," Kinzie said.

"Indeed. And we know enough about how elemental control works, I have a few theories about how to make it happen. Would this be over the entire simulation, or just one area?" Matt asked.  
  
Kinzie shook her head. "Doing it across all of virtual Steelport would create too much of a disruption. We might as well summon Zinyak. Unless _that's_ your crazy plan."

"Pierce, is the goal of this strategy be to achieve minimal or maximal disruption?"

"Well, uh… neither, exactly." Embarrassment warmed Pierce's cheeks. "Boss might've mentioned he misses the rain and I thought we could give him some."

Kinzie rolled her eyes.  
  
Matt gleefully pointed a finger at Pierce. "I always _suspected_ you were a romantic. It takes a degree of emotional intelligence to truly appreciate Nyte Blayde. In fact, what you're proposing brings to mind the third episode of season one."

"Oh, yeah… that's the one where Marion wanted to surprise--"

"Nope," Kinzie interrupted, making a time out gesture with her hands. "Not sitting through another fanboy conversation about that stupid show."

"Fine." Matt sighed. "But I'll have you know, you're missing out on an incredibly rich fictional tapestry."

Pierce took a seat next to Kinzie. "Back to the rain--can you make it happen or not?"

"I'm pretty sure we can. But in the Steelport simulation, the disruption would likely draw a lot of Zin and Wardens. Probably too risky, unless you're prepared for a continuous fight," Kinzie said.

"I should be able to alter one of the other, smaller simulations to do what you're asking. In fact, I could probably have it tested and ready by tomorrow," Matt added, already typing a few notes into his tablet.

Kinzie began typing on her keyboard again, too. "If you want to reduce the chances of Zinyak interfering, we should probably plan a concurrent distraction in the main simulation."

Pierce rubbed his hands together. "Alright. Cool. I'll take care of that. Let me see if Shaundi and King are around. I bet they'd be down for a distraction."

*******

After the plans were finalized, it was another hour before the Boss and Johnny tired of Genkibowl and returned from the simulation.

Pierce was sitting in the ship's lounge having eaten a very late breakfast, trying to reread his only issue of Nyte Blayde, when he heard Alair approaching.

"Hey," Alair said.

"Hey. You and Gat have fun shooting mascots?" He put down the comic and stood, meeting Alair halfway across the room.

"Yeah. Johnny loved the money, murder, and mayhem as much as I thought he would." Alair reached up and ran a thumb along Pierce's jaw. "Stubble? On the always impeccably groomed Pierce Washington?"

Pierce swatted his hand away. "Skipped shaving 'cause I was worried about your ass. Why the fuck'd you leave without waking me up? You _always_ wake me up."

"It was early and you were curled against the pillow, with the blanket pulled all the way up to your chin. I couldn't do it. You were… kind of adorable." Alair lifted his fingers tentatively, to touch Pierce's face again.

Pierce leaned in and let him. "Alright. But wake me the fuck up next time. For real."

"Deal." Alair kissed Pierce softly on the lips, lingering for a minute before pulling back and whispering, "Now come to bed and I'll make it up to you. Then later, we can go into fake Steelport, find a tank, and blow up some shit for Kinzie."

"Shit, you do know what I like." Pierce chuckled and wrapped his arms around Alair's waist.

*******

"Just meet me at the damn Broken Shillelagh," Pierce said, taking off his hat in preparation for the simulation pod.

"You really not gonna tell me what the fuck we're doing? You know I hate going into shit blind."

"All you need to know is that I got a plan. A good one."

Alair touched Pierce's shoulder. "Is this because you want me to call you 'Boss' again? 'Cause I can pretty much guarantee you a shot if you take me somewhere private, get me naked, and play your cards right."

"Uh… noted." Pierce swallowed dryly, his mind momentarily flashing to an image of Alair pinned beneath him and calling him 'Boss'. "But it's not about that. Just trust me, alright?"

"Alright. I do trust you. See you there." Alair stepped into one of the pods.  
  
Pierce waited a few minutes before strapping into his own pod, then gave the go-ahead signal to Kinzie and Matt, who in turn gestured for Ben and Shaundi to enter the simulation room.

Once inside virtual Steelport, Pierce made a brief stop at Planet Zin for a wardrobe change, then super-sprinted over to the Broken Shillelagh.

Alair was waiting for him outside as promised, dual SMGs in hand.

"You ready to do this?" Pierce asked. He saw no reason to disabuse Alair of the notion that he'd need firepower--not yet, anyway.

"Sure. As ready as I can be when I don't know what the fuck we're about to do." Alair looked Pierce up and down and gave a low whistle. "Haven't seen you wear the white suit in weeks. You always look hot in that."

"I know. And you can flatter me all you want, I'm still not telling you where we're going."

"Dammit, Pierce."

"Follow me."

They stepped through the glowing front door portal and with a whirlwind of blue, were transported into the secondary simulation.

As his vision adjusted and the room came into focus, Pierce's throat tightened. He forced a deep breath and scanned the crib and the windows outside, just to make sure Paul was really gone.

"Pierce--is this--are we back in your fucked up mind prison thing again?"

Kinzie's voice echoed through the room. "We repurposed his simulation, just like some of the others. There's no immediate danger. Paul is gone."

Pierce let out the breath he was holding. Despite his lingering fear of Paul, there was something comforting about finding himself in the old, familiar penthouse.

"So, what, you wanted to hang at the old crib?" Alair relaxed his shoulders and put away his guns.

"Not exactly. C'mon." Pierce reached for Alair's hand, lacing their fingers together, and led him through the kitchen and out to the balcony deck.

The air outside was pleasantly warm. The sky above them was charcoal, with clouds forming overhead, but there was enough lighting and visibility to make out Magarac Island in the distance. Pierce squeezed Alair's hand. "Kinda nice seeing old Joe out there for a change, instead of Zinyak's ugly ass."

Alair stood in silence for a moment, fingers still interlocked with Pierce's as they took in the view. When he finally spoke, his voice was deep and calm. "Pierce, what--"

Pierce pressed a finger against Alair's lips and smiled. "Wait for it. Any minute now."

Right on cue, the first gentle drops began to fall. Pierce closed his eyes as they splashed against his face.

"Rain?" Alair whispered in awe, letting go of Pierce's hand and walking out to the railing. "Fucking _rain_!" He laughed and extended both his palms, tilting his head toward the sky and spinning around in a slow circle.

Pierce hung back, warmth spreading through his chest as he watched Alair. He'd make it through this whole Zinyak thing in one piece. Pierce would make sure of it.

Alair stopped spinning and took two swift, purposeful steps toward him. Dripping wet--he grabbed Pierce by the lapels and pulled him into a hot, hard kiss, not letting up or letting go for what seemed to Pierce like a blissful eternity. When their lips finally parted, Alair muttered, "You heard me? You fucking remembered. I thought you were asleep."

Still dizzy from the intensity of Alair's kiss, all Pierce could manage was a goofy grin. "Yeah, I heard you."

"And you arranged this for me." Alair let go of the suit lapels and wound his arms around Pierce's waist.

Pierce nodded.

"A bunch of us helped, actually," Kinzie's disembodied voice said.

"Truth be told, we did most of the work," Matt's voice chimed in.

Alair didn't reply. He was already kissing Pierce again, a slow, passionate kiss as they continued to be drenched by the falling rain.

"Ew. Okay, I guess we'll give you some privacy. The rain should last for another… 15 minutes, give or take. But you'd better come thank us later," Kinzie said, and Pierce could hear a faint protest from Matt in the background before their voices disappeared.

"Shit. I just realized, Zinyak's gonna fuck this up any minute," Alair said, pulling away.

"Nah, we thought of that. King and Shaundi are drawing the Zin's attention with a disruption someplace else."

"But Zinyak's an omnipotent bastard. He could still decide to fuck this up."

"True. But... you like a little danger, don't you?" Pierce smirked and hooked his fingers through the soaked belt loops of Alair's jeans, pulling him even closer.

"You know me so well." Alair reached forward and cupped Pierce's face in both hands, wiping raindrops away with his thumbs. "Do you ever… miss home?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Sometimes. But finding new places is gonna be exciting. We won't be stuck on the ship forever."

"I guess you're right. There's a big universe out there for the Saints to claim."

Pierce leaned in and brushed their lips together, gently slipping his tongue inside Alair's mouth before pulling back. "Mm. You taste like rain."

"And you taste like home. Always," Alair whispered. "Which makes no fucking sense, since I was too much of a pendejo to ever kiss you back when we actually _were_ home."

"It makes perfect sense to me," Pierce said, kissing Alair again until the rain escalated to a torrential downpour.

"You're getting completely soaked." Alair began to unbutton Pierce's damp dress shirt.

"Yeah, well so are you." Pierce started to loosen the wet, heavy knot on Alair's tie.

"Hey… have you ever fucked in the rain?" Alair smirked as his fingers traveled down to Pierce's belt buckle.

"No." Pierce licked a few raindrops from his lower lip and returned the smile. "But you know I'm down."


End file.
